Sunday, May 26, 2013

“Cracking our shins on altars”


“Earth is so thick with divine possibilities that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere without cracking our shins on altars”. (Barbara Brown Taylor)

The American southwest is such an amazing place. Every manmade wonder in the world seems to be duplicated here through the handiwork of wind and water. We hiked at Natural Bridges National Monument last Sunday and marveled at the delicate arches and souring spans. Then we spent two days exploring Capitol Reef National Park where there is everything: domes, cathedrals, caves, temples, reefs, hanging gardens, natural reservoirs, and it is all available if you are willing to walk a little way.  It is one of the most visitor-friendly NP’s we have ever seen. Far superior to Zion or Grand Canyon.  We will return!

The trip to Delta UT was beautiful and we found a great campground. We made an early start on Wednesday out to the desert to dig fossils. What an adventure! We found lots of trilobites, brachiopods, and worm tracks. We filled up a five gallon bucket before noon, and then had to make hard decisions about what to keep. After lunch we did some serious shale splitting, only keeping the best specimen.

Leaving Delta, we crossed the Great Basin desert on Highway 50, called the “Loneliest Road in the US”.  We stopped briefly at Great Basin National Park. I think that it is a place of subtle beauty that would take a while to appreciate. We arrived in Sparks NV  late Thursday
afternoon, completing our longest day on the road yet.  The desert was lovely. We often saw miles of rolling dunes covered with yellow flowers with snow-capped mountains  in the background. US 50 is a good road with wide shoulders and only a few steep grades. No problem!


We are visiting with family in Sparks/Reno and waiting for some mail to arrive. Had laundry done today and will buy tires tomorrow. The collapse of the Mt. Vernon bridge on I-5 in Washington has changed our route to the Canadian border but we still hope to leave next Thursday.  

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Prone to Wander


Sunday, May 10: It is Sunday morning and I am missing my friends at St. Marks. I feel as if I have been in church all week. Chaco Canyon is about as spiritual as it gets and the beautiful Great Kiva at Aztec Ruins makes you want to sit in the Presence all day. It was reconstructed in the 30’s and the Pueblo still use it for ceremonies. It is deep and cool underground and the silted windows and columns are designed to reflect the progress of the sun during the day. There is always a beam of light illuminating the darkness.

If you are my FB friend, you saw the happy, happy photos of Butch on his fishing trip on the San Juan River. I went along but did not fish. The river is beautiful, the day was cool and bright, and the fish were biting. It was so much fun!

We traveled on west and north to Blanding UT. Yesterday we toured Natural Bridges National Monument and did the easiest hike to Katchina Bridge. There is a slot canyon there and the walls were stunning. Believe it or not, we had rain here yesterday! As a result, we could not do some of the other hikes (flash flooding is a danger if there are thunderstorms anywhere in the basin).

The thunderheads were rolling across a brilliant blue sky creating an amazing effect on the lighting in the canyons. Some areas were lit with shafts of sunlight while others where silhouetted against dark cliffs. There is snow on the mountains in the far background which occasionally glints in the sun. Breathtaking!!

In the late afternoon we visited the museum and ruins at Edge of the Cedars State Park. They have an extensive and impressive collection there.  We are leaving today, probably to go west on UT 95 to Capitol Reef National Park.


Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Desperately seeking superlatives


Desperately seeking superlatives

We are barely into our second week of our trip and I am already running out of superlatives. How many ways can you say gorgeous, stunning, breathtaking, amazing? I’m talking about Chaco Canyon Culture National Historical Park and the surrounding area, including the San Juan River valley where we are right now. We braved the 21 miles (13 of it unpaved) to get to the Canyon on Monday.  It took us an hour and that is considered very good time. Despite being fairly warned, the inside of the TT was in shambles. We didn’t take in much dust though and nothing was broken. It was SO worth it! We spent two nights dry camping nestled beneath a huge canyon wall with our own little pueblo ruin and petroglyphs nearby. Some of the buildings were built in the 800’s and all are amazing.  The NPS has applied for Dark Sky designation (available at only a few places in the world) for this site and they discourage using more light than you need. As a result, it is magical at night.

We drove just over 100 miles today and are now at Navaho Lake State Park on the San Juan River. The river is lovely, very clear and green. I was excited about paddling my little canoe on it but learned that I have to have a NM fishing license and fishing apparatus in the boat! Butch is going fly fishing tomorrow with a guide so I will go along too.

No real plans for the rest of the week. I guess we will wander west toward Utah.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

End of Phase I


We are in Albuquerque tonight and this seems like the end of “Phase I” of the trip (Getting Out West). Tomorrow will be the beginning of “Phase II” (Exploring the Four Corners).Until tonight we have camped in state parks and four of the five nights we were on lakes: Pontchartrain (LA), Wright Patmon (TX), Foss Lake (OK), and last night at Santa Rosa in NM. The other night we were on the ridge of a mountain in the Quichita Mountains of AR. What a let-down to be here in a KOA right off I-25! It is a nice clean park but a stark reminder of the difference between RV-ing and Camping. No quiet strolls along a lake shore watching the sunset instead we have a quick trip to the fenced in doggie park.  Percy is not impressed. Walking around a fenced enclosed bored her to death in five minutes and she wanted to know when the real Walk would begin. On the positive side, Butch and I celebrated M Day and our success in achieving a week in the TT with no mayhem by going to the Casino for dinner.  We plan to pull out in the morning to travel toward Farmington NM and all the wonderful ruins and rock art along the way. Don’t know when we will have internet access again.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

We are in Atlanta....(Texas that is)


That’s the thing about “happenings”; yesterday I didn’t know Atlanta TX existed; now I are there! The campground is Atlanta State Park on Lake Wright Patman south of Texarkana. It is a huge lake with 170 miles of shoreline. The campground is private and very quiet. Other items of note today were the Frog Level Monument in Rodessa, two huge green frogs on top of a sort of arch. One is named “Alabama” the other “Georgia”. Google it if you are into obscure roadside attractions. We missed the AL-LA-TEX marker as evidently it is pretty low to the ground.

Last night we were at Fontainbleau State Park near Mandeville LA on Lake Pontchartrain. It is the site of an old plantation and the oak trees were magnificent. Again, a super-nice campground with absolutely palatial restrooms.

As expected, we are off schedule and off-track.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Standing on the Verge



 
It appears that tomorrow will be the long anticipated Big Day, the day we actually head west on our Alaska journey.  We arrived in Dothan on Saturday and have been finishing up the last of our business. Camping World went over the travel trailer today and pronounced us good to go.  We are exhausted, exhilarated, and a little scared. We have already made some changes to our plans due to the Sequester and the flooding so we are not sure where we will be tomorrow night. We have had our first (minor) disaster also. Since the TT was already in south Alabama, we had to bring all our gear south in our uncovered utility trailer. In anticipation of a 90% chance of up to two inches of rain, we bagged and doubled bagged everything and wrapped it in a tarp. The only real casualty was the bag that contained our 2006 Rand McNally Road Atlas, our Woodalls Camping Guide, and my notebook full of itineraries and places of interest. The Atlas is toast, the Camping Guide is a soggy mess, and I am trying to dry out the notebook.  I hope this is the worst thing that happens